The Important Days

This is my entry for the 2025 Nude Day Contest. It is also my first time writing for the First Time category. I hope you enjoy it.

*****

"Happy Birthday!"

Many names are jumbled together following the cheer: three small voices saying Grandpa, two adult voices saying Daddy and a handful saying Jason. Four generations are here to celebrate. My sixtieth birthday was actually yesterday, but not everyone could come until today, a Saturday. After more than twenty-thousand days, what is one more?

They are all here to acknowledge my birthday, but also to see how I am doing nine months after I lost Nancy.

"Thank you all. This is the best day I have had in some time," I tell everyone.

"What was your best day ever, Jason?" Andrew asks.

Andrew is my son-in-law, the father of two of my grandchildren.

"Oh, that one's easy. The day Nancy said yes."

The party is nice and I open my presents. I will cherish them all, especially the drawings that Jeremy, Lily, and Megan, my grandchildren, drew for me. But I am not used to all this commotion. Especially before the spring semester starts Tuesday. I live a very quiet life.

I tell everyone I am going to go sit in my easy chair in the living room and rest for a while. I close my eyes and think about the earlier question. That was definitely my happiest day. Either that or the day Natalie was born.

But it wasn't my most important day or rather days. The first was forty two years ago, to the day. The day after my eighteenth birthday, I remember it like it was yesterday.

******

I was a senior in high school, but I had exhausted all the math courses they taught, so I was taking courses at the local state college. I had taken Calc 3 in the fall and I was taking Linear Algebra this spring. The fall course had been in the same building as all the math offices, where my mother had brought me one day the summer before to meet a professor. I was comfortable with that building.

This class was in a building on the other side of the quad, the Wilson Fine Arts building. The class was after my regular school day ended and I had to take a city bus from my high school to campus. I got off at the wrong stop that first day and had to run the whole way across campus. I scrambled up the stairs at Wilson hoping not to be late. I saw the numbers 201 on a door in front of me as I exited the stair well. A closed door.

Gulping that I was about to be scolded for coming late, I walked through the door and stopped dead in my tracks. In front of me, on a small stage, was a naked woman lying on a couch. I stood petrified, my mouth agape.

I had never seen a real live naked woman before. I had seen some pictures in magazines, but this was a real woman, fully naked, less than ten feet from me.

A woman, I assume the instructor, asked, "Can I help you with something, young man?"

"Umm, I thought my math class was in here. I am pretty sure this isn't Linear Algebra."

"What room is your class in?"

"Two oh one"

"This is two oh seven. Two oh one is down the hall a little ways."

"Sorry."

Turning bright red, I turned and left the room. I could hear the whole class laughing as I shut the door.

I looked at the number of the door. It does in fact say 207. I could have sworn it said 201. I find my class down the hall. When my class gets out, I see that the door to 207 is now open, the room empty.

That night, all I can think of is the naked woman. Every detail of her is seared into my brain. I masturbate to the image of her. And the next night. And the night after.

She is still dominating my thoughts four weeks later when I have my first exam in Linear Algebra. This math comes easily to me; I finish early and the professor tells me I can leave. Looking at my watch, I realize I have just enough time to catch the earlier bus if I hurry. Otherwise, I will have to wait an hour to catch my usual bus.

Home an hour earlier means an extra hour on my Atari. I grab my stuff and sprint out of the room, towards the stairwell. And crash full speed into someone coming the other way.

That someone is the woman of my obsession, but she is wearing a robe right now. Or mostly wearing. We have both fallen to the ground in the collision. And her robe has fallen part way open, exposing most of one of her breasts. I am sitting on the ground just staring at her.

She laughs. "I recognize you. You are the mathematician who can't tell a seven from a one. I take it you found your class?"

Just as I did the other time she saw me, I am turning bright red. I snap myself away from staring at her breast and say "Yeah, I just finished an exam. Sorry about this, I was trying to hurry to catch a bus home and wasn't looking."

"Well you are certainly looking now," she says, still laughing.

She looks at me and adds, in a more understanding tone, "I wasn't looking where I was going either. I am guessing you missed your bus now."

I look at my watch and nod. "Probably. Oh well. There is another one in an hour."

"What is your name, math boy?"

"Jason."

"Well, Jason. If you get up without ripping my robe off the rest of the way and let me get changed, I would be glad to have a coffee at the union with you until it's time for your next bus."

I pull my legs from their entanglement with her, stand up, and offer her a hand up. I can't help but look as she flashes her privates at me as she gets herself off the floor.

"You really can't keep your eyes off, can you?" she asks, laughing once again.

My color, which was starting to return to normal, is back to beet red again. I do look away.

"It's okay. I really don't mind. And it's flattering, to be honest. Wait here, I will be back in a minute."

She goes into an unmarked door and comes back out moments later, fully dressed. Or more or less fully dressed. She is wearing jeans and a knit cotton top that clings to her breasts, unobscured by a bra. Her nipples clearly protrude through the soft fabric.

We chat while we walk across campus to the union,

"Do you model every week for that class?"

"No, only when you are around."

I look at her quizzically, and she clarifies, "I think we are on a four week rotation. I was joking about it being tied to you."

Just before entering the union, she says to me, "How old are you Jason and what are you doing taking math I have never even heard of when you are still a teenager?

"I turned eighteen last month. I am in my senior year of high school. But I took Calc in eleventh grade, which was the last math course the high school offers. So my mom brought me in last summer to meet with a math professor here and he arranged for me to take Calc 3 in the fall and Linear this spring."

"What is all that math? Scratch that, I don't think I want to know. So you are some kind of genius."

"The math comes easily to me. To be honest, these two courses are fun but they are still not especially challenging. I at least do have to spend some time to do the homework now."

"How about your other classes?"

"The sciences are okay, except Biology. I hated that. And I don't like the labs for any of them. English is okay, too, but I am not a good writer. I love reading though. Oh and social studies is just stupid."

I think about what I just said. Did I just stick my foot in mouth? "Are you a student?"

She nods.

"What is your major?"

"Psychology and history double major. Or as you call it, social studies."

I look down dejectedly.

"It's okay. I hated my high school social studies, too. It's different in college."

I perk back up some. "You never told me your name."

"I'm Ellie. I was wondering when you were going to ask."

"I'm sorry. I am not used to talking to girls."

"I am a woman, Jason. Don't call anyone over eighteen a girl."

"Well, the only woman I ever talk to is my mom. We talk a lot."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No, it's just my mom and me. My dad died four years ago. His car got hit by a wrong way driver on the highway when he was coming home from a shift in the ER."

"Was he a doctor?"

"Yeah."

"That must have been hard on you."

"It sucked, but more for my mom. I was always closer to her. My dad worked a lot of hours and neither of us were into the classic father-son stuff. You know like catch or fishing or anything. He didn't get video games and he didn't read much anymore. I guess he doesn't read at all now. But my mom and I got even closer after he died. I think she needs someone to talk to now, so we talk a lot."

"Does she work?"

"Yeah, she is a nurse. It's how they met. She works an eleven AM to seven PM shift weekdays now. So the late afternoon class worked out well."

"Your class meets once or twice a week?"

"Twice, Tuesday and Thursday four to five-fifteen."

"What do you do with yourself after school the rest of the week?"

"Three afternoons a week, I work at the comic book store from three to six and then Saturday from nine to two."

"Does that leave you any time for friends?"

"Terry was really my last friend. His family moved away two years ago. Andy who owns the comic book store is nice and we talk when the store is quiet."

"No girlfriends I take it either."

I shake my head no.

"I will make you a deal. I will meet with you after class every Tuesday and Thursday. But you have to make one promise to me."

"What's that?"

"Take a shower every Tuesday and Thursday morning. And maybe use deodorant. Unscented though if you do. You are stinky."

I blush yet again.

"It's okay. It's a problem with lots of guys your age. But it's not much fun to be around you when you smell bad. You might even get a girlfriend out of it someday."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"I kind of expected you to ask me a lot of them today. What is this question?"

"Why are you doing this? Why are you being so nice to me? No one ever does this, except Andy and my mom. I think he is even lonelier than I am. And she is, well, my mother, so of course she is nice to me."

"To be honest, I am not sure. You were adorable when you walked in on me modeling that first day. Especially when you blushed. Was that the first time you had ever seen a naked woman?"

"Other than the pictures in the magazines Terry would steal from his dad, yeah."

"I figured so. And you are so sincere. Most the guys I meet, ones my age I mean, will say anything to me to try to get into my pants. And so many of the women are more than a little catty under the surface. You are a nice break. I can relax a little.

"And you are cute, in a scruffy way. And you looked like you needed a friend.

"Or maybe because you fit something in my head for the Adolescent Psych course I am taking now. I really don't know. But I enjoyed our talk, didn't you?"

I nod my head vigorously. I really did enjoy this time. And I am mostly managing not to stare at her boobs through the knit top.

"So, Jason, do you have any more questions for me before you have to go catch your bus?"

"You said guys your age. How old are you? I know you are not really old like my mom, but you seem a lot older than all the girls in my school."

"First off, you better not tell your mom she is real old. But I am about to turn twenty two, so a little less than four years older than you. I am a senior this year. Everyone grows up a lot in those four years, men and women. You will be very different in four years than you are now. And I would have to worry that you were trying to get into my pants. Not that you wouldn't want to be there now, I bet."

I blush one more time, confirming her suspicions I guess. I try to seem cool as I look at my watch.

"I better go before I miss this bus, too. Are you serious about meeting me again on Thursday?"

"Absolutely, but don't forget that shower. No more stinky-poo meetings. I will be waiting at a table here."

I hurry to catch the bus, but my heart and my mind are racing much faster. As I think about her during the bus ride home, I get a huge boner. I pile my jacket in my lap so no one else notices and try to compute cube roots in my head to calm down. At home, I can't even survive the first level of PacMan. All I can think about is Ellie.

When my mom gets home, I run down and give her a big hug. I sit on a stool in the kitchen while she prepares some spaghetti for us.

"You are in a good mood tonight," she says to me.

"I just had a good day, Mom."

"Didn't you have an exam in your math class?"

"Yeah, It was pretty easy. I got to leave early."

"What aren't you telling me Jason?"

I try to not look her in the eyes, but I have never been able to avoid her eyes when she wants to look at me.

"Did you meet a new friend today?"

I nod.

"Is it a girl?"

"She is a woman, Mom. She says I shouldn't call anyone over eighteen a girl."

"That's a good idea. Is she a student at the college?"

"Yeah."

"In your math class?"

"No. I ran into her in the hallway."

"Literally ran into her?"

"Yeah, I was trying to hurry to catch the early bus since I got out early. I apologized, but she said she wasn't looking where she was going either. I helped her up and we went to the union together and talked. Oh, after she got dressed."

I immediately regret saying that last bit.

"She was naked when you ran into her?"

"No, she had a robe. But it did kind of pop open when she fell."

"Why was she dressed in just a robe in the hallway?"

"She models for the art class next door to my math class."

"Does she model all the time?"

"Just twice so far, I think. At least I have only seen her twice."

Why can't I just shut up and not say things like that.

"So you saw her modeling another time. When was that?"

"I walked into the wrong classroom the first day. She was modeling for the class."

"And she was nude..."

I nod, blushing.

"What did you do when you walked in on her?"

"I think I mostly stood there staring, until the art teacher pointed out I was in the wrong room. Then I just turned bright red and left the room."

"That sounds pretty accurate. Okay, this is a little odd. Do you know what her name is?"

"I am not a complete idiot, Mom. I asked her. Her name is Ellie."

"And what did you and Ellie do at the union?"

"We just talked. Mostly she asked me questions about me and I answered them."

"Are you going to see her again?"

This time I nod more enthusiastically.

"Are you planning on running into her in the hallway again?"

"Mom, be serious. We are going to meet at the union again on Thursday after class. On one condition."

"What condition is that?"

"I have to take a shower Thursday morning. And use the deodorant you gave me a few months ago. She said I am stinky."

"Well, that's one point in Ellie's favor. Did she tell you why she is doing this?"

"I did ask her that, because I was surprised. She said I was cute. And I looked like I needed a friend. And she said I wasn't trying to get in her pants, like all the guys her age are."

She grumbles a bit and then says, "Can you give her our phone number Thursday and ask her to call me?"

"Do you have to bother her, Mom?"

"I would like to know who my baby boy is spending his time with."

"I am not a baby nor a boy, Mom. I am eighteen and should be called a man."

I try to stand up tall and stick my chest out.

Mom comes over and tussles my hair and gives me a hug, saying, "You will always be my baby boy to me."

Then she steps back and says, "Ellie is right though. You are stinky."

Wednesday was a blur. That afternoon at the comic book store, I told Andy about Ellie. All he said was "You lucky devil."

I get up early Thursday and take an extra long shower, scrubbing every inch of me three times. I put the deodorant on twice and pick my nicest tee shirt to wear. The professor calls on me in Linear Algebra, and for the first time all semester, I didn't know the answer. I really hadn't been paying attention.

After class, I race over to the union, making sure not to run into anyone this time. She was sitting at the same table, today wearing a stretchy white top that showed lots of cleavage. And still showed her nipples clearly. I grab a drink, almost forgetting to pay, before I sit at the table with her.

As I sit down, she sniffs at the air and pronounces, "Good job, Jason. No stinkies today."

I smile. But then, looking a little sheepish, I say, "My mom told me I have to give you her number and she wants you to call her."

"I kind of figured she would. Did you and your mom have a nice talk about me?"

"I didn't even mean to tell her about you, but she kind of got me to tell her."

"Mom's have ways of doing that, especially with how much you and your mom talk."

"She asked me if my new friend was a girl, and I told her you wanted to be called a woman."

"I bet that warmed her heart. And did you say how we met? What I was doing?"

"Yeah, it kind of slipped out. I am really not good at keeping secrets from her at all."

"You are not very hard to read, Jason. This is going to be an interesting discussion with her, I can see."

"She was real happy you managed to get me to take a shower. She has been after me about that for almost a year."

"There are some levers that are easier for female friends than mothers. Did you think of any questions you want to ask me this afternoon?"

"Do you have a boyfriend right now?"

"Oh, you want to know about the competition do you? Do I have to worry about keeping you out of my pants now, too? But to answer your question, no I am not in a relationship with anyone at this time."

"Have you had a lot of sex?"

"Going straight for the personal questions. I am not a virgin. I will admit to that. And what is a lot to one person may be very little to someone else."

I am still looking expectantly at her.

"Oh, you want a number. You do realize that asking a woman her number is a very personal question. Do you think we know each other that well yet? Let me think about that one. Next question."

"Do you like modeling? Nude I mean?"

"You are really going after it today. You must have been thinking about me a lot in the last two days. Just what are you thinking in there, I wonder."

I am turning bright red again, but also getting another huge boner. I just hope she doesn't look under the table. Thinking about her seeing it makes it even worse.

"I am sorry, I shouldn't tease you. I would worry about one of us if you weren't thinking of me like that. You are just so easy to embarrass.

"But do I enjoy being naked in front of a group of people. Yes, I do. And I get very horny doing it. Sometimes, I masturbate in the changing room afterwards, before I get dressed again. Is that what you want to know about?"

This is not helping my problem.

"To be honest, I did masturbate after that first day you walked in. And you staring was one of the things I thought about while I did. And I probably would have masturbated again on Tuesday if you had not knocked me over. Although I am sorry to tell you that I would not have thought about you that time."

I am squirming uncomfortably in my seat.

"I am sorry. Do you need to go to the restroom to take care of something? I will wait for you. And don't feel bad. This is another form of compliment to me."

I try to nonchalantly hang my pack in front of me as I make my way across the room towards the restrooms. To avoid looking at anyone else on the way over, I look at the posters on the wall. It seems like students can post most anything. My high school would never allow at least half of what is posted.

Once to the restrooms, I take a stall and close the door. It only takes me a minute imagining ejaculating onto her cleavage to get relief. It took the edge off my need, but my boner is still rock hard when I head back.

On the way back to our table, I compute more cube roots in my head. I have to concentrate enough to get the fourth digit of the cube root of 23 to regain some control.